Debt Dumpers - 2016

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just started reading this thread a week ago. WELL I was seeing how people would post about "murphy" Well let me just say...MURPHY hit us. On Wed. of this week...I noticed what looked like staining on our carpet in various sizes and shapes in one are of our family room downstairs. Well it was WATER. My carpet in that area felt like a sponge. We had a water line leak that backed up in the unfinished part of our basement and traveled into that room. Needless to say WE had to call the county/plumbers to assess and turn our water off from the watermain. We didn't have water until 10:30 yesterday morning when we had the line replaced. We had to spend 500 home owners deductible. That covered the water mitigation team to come out Wed. night to clean up, ripped up carpet and take off baseboards and remove padding. They were here for hours. They left these giant dehumidifiers and fans in the unfinished area and the family room area that was damaged. Most of that is gone now except in the storage room where hopefully they can come and get those items too that have been SUCKING UP MY ELECTRIC. The ded. also covers the general contractor's work that will start next week. So not only did we have the inconvience of no water we also had a MESSED UP HOUSE with us pulling stuff out of the storage area of the unfinished basement/ moving furniture in the family room. My house is a disaster downstairs. The water line was replaced yesterday to the tune of 2500. The insurance company is ONLY reimbursing us for 300 of that. So we had MURPHY hit to the tune of 2700. What was bad was, I had just written checks out for our youngest son's high school for his Univeral trip in April. That was 375 and I had to pay 200 this week too for our college son's iphone replacement, oh and 184 for our son's two AP tests he is taking in May. Not to mention that I had to cancel my sub jobs Thursday and Friday so I lost pay there too. UGH

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So it's my 40th birthday today (eeek!!) and my mom gave me a bottle of Bailey's and a cheque for $400! And I'm going to.......spend it on myself ok well I don't need $400 worth of stuff lol so I'll probably buy some clothes and then put the rest in savings/vacation account. We're expecting $3,000-$4,000 back for our tax refund (can't do our taxes yet, dh hasn't received all his receipts from work and won't til end of February) and of course I'm expecting inheritance so while all that is debt dumping I feel like this birthday money should be spent on ....... me coz honestly, if I'm turning 40 I'm going to need something stronger than Bailey's

Happy belated Birthday!!
I hope you get to celebrate all weekend.

Ugh, on the cost of groceries.

I wanted to give you all a warning on TD Bank's Free Checking. It has a minimum amount of $100 so I put in a little over $100 because I only use it to have a local account. (I cash my checks there for rolls of quarters for my laundry) At one point I went in and got a roll of quarters using the money in my account. The account dipped down to $95 and I went back in a week or two later to deposit the money back to get it above $100. When I checked my account the next month, they had charged me a $15 service fee because it went under the $100. When I called and complained (because I made the deposit the day that they charged the fee) they put the $15 back and told me I was all good, Just "don't let it dip under again." I logged back in today and I have been charged the $15 fee again because after I had deposited it back to $100, they pulled out the $15 making it $75 (then they replaced the $15 BUT because it had been under the $100 at any point in the cycle I was charged the fee.) While I do realize I have some fault in this for letting it dip under $100 ever, I can not believe that I got stuck in this whole cycle. I am closing out my account tomorrow for a completely free account elsewhere, but I wanted to advise anybody that is thinking about getting this checking account.

We dumped TD Bank around 1.5 years ago. We had that checking account since I first moved out of my parents' house 24 years ago. Back then they were Commerce Bank which was awesome but once TD took over, they gradually raised fees and cut their hours back. Seriously, if your balance dips below $100 even for 1 day you get charged the fee. After finding out the hard way I made sure to never cut it so close but it was annoying. We switched banks when dh heard that the new Republic Bank had just opened by the same guy that started Commerce Bank. Free ATM, free online banking w/bill pay and as long as you're not overdrawn, totally free checking. Also since dh is >50 we get free senior checking which means we get free checks (which we barely ever use anymore) and our checking account earns interest. They are growing quickly in our area. We really like them.

 

[gracie1]

How far are you from NJ? Mine is about 5 yrs old and sadly, it's barely used. Dh bought it for me after giving his sister my treadmill that he though I didn't want. Grrr...

I'm a couple hours away - I'm looking for one with a high resistance level - what is the resistance level yours goes up to?

 

[TheLittleMerMom]

I hope it isn't too late to join this thread! I have had a series of financial woes over the last few years--it is as if Murph & I have entered into some type of marital arrangement. & of course, 20 days out from our trip to WDW for my DD's 6th birthday, he strikes again! Oh well, I am like Dory, I just keep swimming & I have my fingers crossed that once I have all our of necessary tax documents (I am self-employed, so I am always waiting on someone) we will receive a small gift in the form of our refund!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm a couple hours away - I'm looking for one with a high resistance level - what is the resistance level yours goes up to?

1-10. It's a Nordic Track ASR630.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Trip to the urgent care center for stitches in my hand has left me $25 poorer. At least I made it to the urgent care before it closed today, otherwise I would have had to pay a $100 emergency room co-pay instead. If you are cutting avocados today, be careful! They are slippery.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Trip to the urgent care center for stitches in my hand has left me $25 poorer. At least I made it to the urgent care before it closed today, otherwise I would have had to pay a $100 emergency room co-pay instead. If you are cutting avocados today, be careful! They are slippery.

That stinks! My husband just finished making the guac too! Hope it feels better.

 

[dayvewc]

Woo-Hoo!!!! Just got an email from the superintendent, and our district qualified for and will receive the retention bonus from the state. Still don't know the final amount, but the law as written (not necessarily as funded) would indicate that I'll get $3k before taxes (about $2k after). This was the retention bonus that I should get in May. If Murphy can stay away til at least next January, I should be able to pay off all of my 0% interest cards, and at least 1 (probably 2) other accounts. And I'll have a sizable snowball to pay on the other accounts.

It is still way early to dream of doing this, but I kind of plan to use my snowball and attack the bills with the largest monthly payment first. That will let me increase the snowball amount faster. I hope.

 

[PrincessKymm]

Woo-Hoo!!!! Just got an email from the superintendent, and our district qualified for and will receive the retention bonus from the state. Still don't know the final amount, but the law as written (not necessarily as funded) would indicate that I'll get $3k before taxes (about $2k after). This was the retention bonus that I should get in May. If Murphy can stay away til at least next January, I should be able to pay off all of my 0% interest cards, and at least 1 (probably 2) other accounts. And I'll have a sizable snowball to pay on the other accounts.

It is still way early to dream of doing this, but I kind of plan to use my snowball and attack the bills with the largest monthly payment first. That will let me increase the snowball amount faster. I hope.

That's super good news!

 

[Dentam]

Woo-Hoo!!!! Just got an email from the superintendent, and our district qualified for and will receive the retention bonus from the state. Still don't know the final amount, but the law as written (not necessarily as funded) would indicate that I'll get $3k before taxes (about $2k after). This was the retention bonus that I should get in May. If Murphy can stay away til at least next January, I should be able to pay off all of my 0% interest cards, and at least 1 (probably 2) other accounts. And I'll have a sizable snowball to pay on the other accounts.

It is still way early to dream of doing this, but I kind of plan to use my snowball and attack the bills with the largest monthly payment first. That will let me increase the snowball amount faster. I hope.

Wonderful news! Congratulations!!

 

[PrincessKymm]

So I had all these meals planned and I didn't have to go to a store for food shopping for a week or so but my fridge is on the fritz and I had to throw away a lot of spoiled food. I called the maintenance line but I just said to deal with it tomorrow.

I moved all my freezer items to the chest freezer even though they all seemed ok.

Meh. Murphy needs to leave. It's making me want to make bad decisions.

So I need some thoughts. I'm 32 and a single mom to a 13 yo. I've got about $8k in my retirement (not a lot I know) that I managed to save over 4 years. I just started my new 401k and after 5 years I qualify for a pension plan of some sort at work.

Is it any sort of a good idea to withdraw this money and use it to pay off debt and then purchase a condo or a home?

I feel like if I do this it could help me in the long run and I would then of course, have to really up my retirement contributions.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[gracie1]

1-10. It's a Nordic Track ASR630.

I wish it had more resistance or I would've bought it from you! Mine has a 12 - but I'm going to Sears tomorrow to check one out. It has a resistance up to 20. I hate the price of exercise equipment but I use my elliptical 3 hours a day!

 

[Angeejoe]

Trip to the urgent care center for stitches in my hand has left me $25 poorer. At least I made it to the urgent care before it closed today, otherwise I would have had to pay a $100 emergency room co-pay instead. If you are cutting avocados today, be careful! They are slippery.

I hope u feel better!

 

[dayvewc]

That's super good news!

Wonderful news! Congratulations!!

Yes it is great news. We were told last August that they were going to try for the retention bonus, but we'd have to forgo the Christmas bonus. But if the retention did not come through, they would pay us a late Christmas bonus at Spring break. It would only have been about $700, so I am much happier to lose the Christmas bonus for the bigger bonus at years end.

So I had all these meals planned and I didn't have to go to a store for food shopping for a week or so but my fridge is on the fritz and I had to throw away a lot of spoiled food. I called the maintenance line but I just said to deal with it tomorrow.

I moved all my freezer items to the chest freezer even though they all seemed ok.

Meh. Murphy needs to leave. It's making me want to make bad decisions.

So I need some thoughts. I'm 32 and a single mom to a 13 yo. I've got about $8k in my retirement (not a lot I know) that I managed to save over 4 years. I just started my new 401k and after 5 years I qualify for a pension plan of some sort at work.

Is it any sort of a good idea to withdraw this money and use it to pay off debt and then purchase a condo or a home?

I feel like if I do this it could help me in the long run and I would then of course, have to really up my retirement contributions.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

That really bites about losing the meals and food. And yeah, I'd go better safe than sorry on the freezer stuff. Get it all in the chest freezer.

For the other ... I would not withdraw the money to pay off debt due to the tax penalty. Depending on what type of retirement account you have, and how long the funds have been there, you can withdraw (penalty free) to make a downpayment on a house, though. That might be something to consider, instead.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Whoo hoo to everyone making progress. BOO to those that Murphy has hit. Plugging along here. Nothing major to report. My husband gets paid once a month (you get a draw in the middle of the month but it is very minimal) and a while back they changed the way the pay period is figured so every once in a while they have a short month paycheck and every so often they have a long month paycheck (I have no idea how it is figured. My paycheck usally is 88 hours but we occasionally have an 80 hour paycheck and once in a blue moon we have a 96 hour paycheck)- anyway to the point of my rambling- He believes that March 1 will be a larger paycheck (he estimates about $800) and then he has about $500 in overtime. We are hoping to pay off two credit cards and put a dent in a third with that extra and our snowballing on the 1st. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

We are hosting Easter this year and I made a menu and grocery list last month so I have been adding things to each grocery trip so that it is not so much at once.

My husband and I are motivated to dump this debt. We always say that and then do stupid things but this time I think we might actually mean it. LOL. We are both frustrated with our jobs, however; the debt ties you to a certain income. Once that is paid we feel as though we would have more flexibility.

 

[hmwinter85]

I fear Murphy is lurking around the corner here waiting to strike. We are moving my DS from the nursery to his own room with a big kids bed. I was feeling really good about it budget wise my mother in law bought the paint (and painted the room while we were on vacation) and gave us my husband's old dress. My parents brought over my old bed frame and headboard yesterday (which matched the dresser guess it was the standard in the 80s) and the first thing my Dad says is it looks like you are missing some shingles, you really should have your roof replaced. We had to replace a few shingles last year after a big snow storm and we used left over dark singles my father in law had in his garage so I'm hoping that what my dad saw (the rest of the roof is light). Guess we will just have to see how bad it really is. DH is going to check it out this week. We knew when we bought the house that we would need a new roof in a few years I was just hoping it would last a few more years. I have a work bonus and hopefully a tax refund coming so I guess I will put that towards a new roof. I had it earmarked to pay off one cc and the personal loan from my in-laws. Just keep swimming.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So I had all these meals planned and I didn't have to go to a store for food shopping for a week or so but my fridge is on the fritz and I had to throw away a lot of spoiled food. I called the maintenance line but I just said to deal with it tomorrow.

I moved all my freezer items to the chest freezer even though they all seemed ok.

Meh. Murphy needs to leave. It's making me want to make bad decisions.

So I need some thoughts. I'm 32 and a single mom to a 13 yo. I've got about $8k in my retirement (not a lot I know) that I managed to save over 4 years. I just started my new 401k and after 5 years I qualify for a pension plan of some sort at work.

Is it any sort of a good idea to withdraw this money and use it to pay off debt and then purchase a condo or a home?

I feel like if I do this it could help me in the long run and I would then of course, have to really up my retirement contributions.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

JMHO, but I really would not withdraw from retirement funds unless I was living in a cardboard box on the sidewalk. It may be tempting at times but that was probably the only good financial decision I made in my early 20s. My employer had a chart that showed how much TIME makes that small amount of $$ work for us. Also it showed how because it's not taxed, if I chose to get it back in my paycheck, it really would be much less than what gets credited to my retirement account. It seemed like a no-brainer.
Dh, OTOH, didn't start until well into our marriage and he's 9+ years older than me and has a lot of catching up to do.
It's not meant to be savings for a home or debt relief. Time will fly and you will be needing that $ to live off of someday. My employer used to use a pension system but when I asked them what it will be approximately when I'm retirement age, they couldn't give me an answer. Not even a rough number. So I asked will it even cover my cable bill when I'm retired? Still no answer. That's when I decided to save myself. I don't feel comfortable relying on anyone but me (and dh) to save for us. Not SS, not pensions. I need to see it myself on a quarterly statement in my name.

Trip to the urgent care center for stitches in my hand has left me $25 poorer. At least I made it to the urgent care before it closed today, otherwise I would have had to pay a $100 emergency room co-pay instead. If you are cutting avocados today, be careful! They are slippery.

Hope you feel better. I think urgent care centers are a great idea! Why go to an ER if you don't have to?

Woo-Hoo!!!! Just got an email from the superintendent, and our district qualified for and will receive the retention bonus from the state. Still don't know the final amount, but the law as written (not necessarily as funded) would indicate that I'll get $3k before taxes (about $2k after). This was the retention bonus that I should get in May. If Murphy can stay away til at least next January, I should be able to pay off all of my 0% interest cards, and at least 1 (probably 2) other accounts. And I'll have a sizable snowball to pay on the other accounts.

It is still way early to dream of doing this, but I kind of plan to use my snowball and attack the bills with the largest monthly payment first. That will let me increase the snowball amount faster. I hope.

That's great! Congrats!

I wish it had more resistance or I would've bought it from you! Mine has a 12 - but I'm going to Sears tomorrow to check one out. It has a resistance up to 20. I hate the price of exercise equipment but I use my elliptical 3 hours a day!

Wow! I'm barely home 3 hours per day.
You really should buy one that works for your needs. Putting that many hours on a machine, it's probably worth it to invest in a good one.

 

[agavegirl1]

The first time home buyer exemption for withdrawals from a retirement account only apply to IRAs. You still have to pay the regular income tax on the withdrawal however. It may be worth it if you will save on rent payments and will benefit from itemizing your deductions on your taxes etc. I would make a spreadsheet with all implications considered but that is just me.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Can anyone recommend a good debt calculator that can show how soon I'll be out of debt based on snowball-payments? I've used some before where it's shown me how soon I'll have things paid off based on my monthly payment and interest rate, but I didn't know if anyone knew of a specific one where I could put in my three debts and the payments and figure out the actual end date for them all being paid.

 

[SirDuff]

Can anyone recommend a good debt calculator that can show how soon I'll be out of debt based on snowball-payments? I've used some before where it's shown me how soon I'll have things paid off based on my monthly payment and interest rate, but I didn't know if anyone knew of a specific one where I could put in my three debts and the payments and figure out the actual end date for them all being paid.

Does this do what you want?

http://undebt.it/debt_snowball_calculator.php